Top 10 Skyline Trade Show Tips Articles For 2010

As 2010 draws to a close, it’s natural to want to look back and see what worked best. While we thought all 67 posts this year had the potential to get your valuable attention, only the best of the best garnered enough eyeballs to make this top 10 list.

So here are the ten most-read articles of 2010 from Skyline Trade Show Tips. Just click on the article headlines to view the entire post:

As Cyndy Lauper said, “Girls just wanna have fun.” And apparently boys do, too. This lighthearted story was the runaway top-viewed story for 2010. This February 2010 article shares 16 things you can do to make trade shows more entertaining, whether you are an exhibitor, a booth staffer, or an attendee. And when we have fun, we also make stronger face-to-face connections. Talk about your win-win situation!

Because many trade show marketers are also becoming responsible for their company’s social media strategies, I wrote this originally for the Trade Show Exhibitor Association’s newsletter. When it hit our blog in April 2010 it got a good tweet from David Meerman Scott, one of the top authors and speakers on Social Media, and then went viral. The post had over 400 tweets linking back to it, so many that it was among the top 100 on Twitter the day it came out.

Lady Gaga is not just the top music act on YouTube, she is also a brilliant marketer. So when Polaroid announced that she was becoming the Polaroid Creative Director in their CES booth, to help with new product development, that was news. And when it was announced in a Skyline-built island exhibit, that was news for Skyline Trade Show Tips in January 2010. Lady Gaga is one of the very top search terms on the web, so new visitors come to read this every day. Hopefully some exhibit at trade shows, too!

The top reason B2B marketers exhibit at trade shows is to generate leads. So any story with 100 trade show lead generation ideas is likely to be popular. The 100 ideas are divided up among 5 areas: Selecting Shows, Exhibit Design, Pre-Show Promotions, At-Show Promotions, and Booth Staffing. Many thanks to Brian Carroll who helped spread the word on this May 2010 story on his B2B Lead Generation Blog.

This is a very fun blog post from May 2010 that is surprisingly on-target. Twelve animals are profiled with very specific characteristics that both good and bad booth staffers echo on the show floor. Giggle while you read this, and try to see how many of your own booth staffers you can recognize. And if you are really brave, ask your fellow booth staffers which one are you most like!

As mentioned earlier, the top goal of B2B marketers at shows is to generate leads. But all too often those leads run into road blocks that prevent them from getting into the right people’s hands and getting followed up. This March 2010 blog post was very popular because it shows marketers what usually gets in the way of good lead follow-up – and then how to overcome those obstacles. Not as fun as exhibit design or promotions, but just as essential.

In the space of one week, two show organizers told me that their exhibitors who most need help improving their trade show performance are least likely to either seek proven advice. That prompted me to write this article in June 2010, challenging trade show naysayers to answer how they choose shows and staffers, how hard they work to get booth visitors, how they spend their time before and after the show, and what they value most from the show. Only after answering those questions could they honestly disparage trade shows.

Steve Hoffman deftly reveals the value of trade shows. Points include the ability to actually meet face-to-face the same people your other marketing is targeting… just to see them. You get all in one place your clients, the trade press, prospects, potential partners, in an environment you control. And you get to take the pulse of the industry, keeping up-to-date and preventing expensive mistakes. Many trade shows have shared this September 2010 article with their exhibitors.

In this June 2010 blog post, I give the 9 steps exhibitors can follow to put together a complete trade show marketing plan. This is the one post you need to read if you are only reading one! The article covers things exhibit marketers must do, such as set measurable objectives, pick good shows, design effective exhibits, and more. Also includes good stats from CEIR (Center for Exhibition Industry Research) on the value of trade shows.

Judy Fairbanks masterly packs into one post her best advice gleaned from her years of experience as both a trade show exhibitor and vendor. She covers what to do before the show (plan, plan, plan!), during the show (execute well) and after the show (measure and react). This August 2010 article is filled with concise advice on what to do, and why to do it. You will get many actionable ideas from reading it.

I hope you read a few of these top articles from 2010. We will do our best to keep serving up to you more insightful and inspiring trade show tips for you in 2011.

Which did you like best? Let us know in the comment box below. And thank you for your visits and comments, and for sharing these articles over the year with your tweets, Facebook likes, and more.

Get more great trade show ideas from the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper, which shares best practices revealed by over 170 exhibitors. Click here to get your copy now.

About the Author

Mike Thimmesch is the Principal at Thimmesch Marketing. For over 25 years, he has created and implemented innovative marketing, lead generation, and exhibiting strategies that profitably grow company sales and brand awareness. Mike rose to Director level at Skyline Exhibits, where he helped generate over a half million leads, resulting in over $1 billion in sales. He published 11 industry white papers and eight exhibiting books, presented over 100 trade show webinars, and wrote over 200 exhibit marketing blog posts.

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